Heaven on San Juan Island

Today we packed the minivan up to the brim with suitcases, about three dozen bags of groceries, two coolers, and a bunch of kids and made our way up north to the amazingly gorgeous San Juan Islands.  We are renting a house near Friday Harbor for four days this week for the kids' Spring Break. We also brought along one of Heidi's friends from church, Rachel.  I am in heaven.  Not only is the scenery beautiful, the house is comfortable and there is a wonderful hot tub right outside the back door.

Like I said, heaven.

Unfortunately my camera, which has been on the fritz for the last year, has not been replaced yet.  I feel like I am missing a vital appendage.  How can I have a vacation without the proper documentation through fun and crazy photos??  My cell phone camera will have to do. Don't judge me for my grainy vacation pictures...

I guess that I am a photo snob.

We got in tonight close to dinner time.  I threw dinner in the oven while the kids played in the hot tub.  Then after we ate, I hopped in the tub with the kids.  We had a great time laughing together and embarrassing Ethan with female jokes and stories. He tried to outmatch us with a "scary" story from his Scout campout last weekend, about miners who were trapped underground for a year and then emerged with pale white eyes, but it was more comical than terrifying. While we were enjoying the bubbling jets of water and admiring the dark night sky, a deer came prancing up almost to the deck.  He checked us out for about a minute, then moved on.

I thought about how much I am grateful for my family and the fun memories that we can create together. I thought about this beautiful earth that God created for us.  I thought about how lucky we are to be able to experience it and explore it together.

Like I said, heaven.

October in Paradise

In October we were lucky enough to spend a week on the beautiful island of Kaua'i.  We were able to take Heidi and Ethan with us, and I am so glad that we did!  The memories that we made on this trip will last a lifetime.

Our first day on Kaua'i. We were scouting out beaches before we could check into our condo. After six hours on the plane, all I wanted to do was get in the water, but I didn't want to change into my suit in the car! Ethan didn't mind changing in the car, though! This is lovely Lydgate Beach.

Some coral at Lydgate Beach.

Lydgate Beach

Gorgeous waves at Tunnels Beach. There were a couple huge sea lions sunbathing on the beach!

Beautiful plantation.

Ono Shave Ice in Kapa'a. The rest of the trip, Ethan begged us to go back and get some more. I always thought it was funny how everywhere you went, it was called "Shave Ice," rather than "Shaved Ice."

On board the Blue Dolphin catamaran to see the Na Pali Coast and the forbidden island Ni'ihau.

I love cruising!

Some spinner dolphins joined us on our cruise!

Na Pali Coast

One of the hidden beaches on the Na Pali coast. Several movies have been filmed here, including Johnny Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean.

One of my favorite images from this trip!

The "Keyhole" on the forbidden island Ni'ihau. Our cruise took us out to snorkel by the island.

Ethan was a snorkeling pro by the time we left Kaua'i!

Beautiful Anini Beach! We swam with several sea turtles here.

This was day 5. I think we wore her out...

Kilauea Lighthouse. It was closed for most of our trip, due to the government shutdown.

I think that Kaua'i had to be the birthplace of the joke starting "Why did the chicken cross the road...?" They are literally EVERYWHERE! We saw more chickens than fish on this island. Ethan had a good time chasing them all week.

Some cool seeds from a tree at the Spouting Horn Beach Park. They looked like flowers.

Spouting Horn Beach Park. There was a fisherman down there with five huge fishing rods.

Our view from the Kalalau Lookout. We should be able to see the Na Pali coastline from here, but alas....We waited for over an hour for the cloud cover to disperse but it never did. It was a good 20 degrees cooler here than on the coast!

Another lookout from the top of the mountain. Pu'uokila Lookout, also under cloud cover.

Gorgeous view at Waimea Canyon Lookout. I got car sick from the drive up to here, but it was well worth it!

My gorgeous girl's photo shoot at Kalpaki Beach.

What a romantic week with my Honey!

Playing at Kalpaki Beach.

My island boy at Kalpaki Beach, across the street from our condo.

Wailua Falls, famous for the intro scene to the TV show "Fantasy Island."

At Smith Family Garden Lu'au.

Ethan was impressed with this stalk growing out of the coconut. I don't think he realizes how a seed works....

I think the smiles here say it all...this was one amazing trip!

Time Out for Women

In April, twelve friends made the trek to Spokane to attend Deseret Book's Time Out for Women. My good friend Audrey and I organized the group of women for our now annual "Time Out." We had so much fun! We loaded up in three vehicles, drove the five hours, and roomed together in three adjacent hotel rooms. Talk about a major slumber party!

ALMOST all the girls....unfortunately two of our party left before we were able to take a group shot!

The speakers and performers were all amazing! We all left feeling inspired and rejuvinated, ready to conquer the world through our many roles as women.

With my Aunt Andi Stevens. So fun to run into her at the conference!

I had a pleasant surprise while there running into my Aunt Andi and five of my cousins, who came to the conference from Richland. It was so great to see all of them again!!! It made me wish I had my sisters and my mom there to share it with as well!

Time Out for Women is an event I look forward to every year, and I expect to continue the tradition of making it a Girls' Weekend as long as possible!!!